June 2016 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I can go out in the front yard and holler if you want.

 

are you in GA? where about's I'm near Athens

 

Nice! I like quiet. Go for it!

 

I'm in Rome.

 

Thanks

......all is quiet in Georgia

 

When in Rome, do as the Vandals do.

Kidding.

 

Cool I get up that way a couple of time a year, maybe we can meet up when I do!

 

Hit me up, we'll do lunch.

 

You got mail....



.....all is quiet in Georgia

 

Jolly Good June

Rule; TBS synthetic brush
Focus; Soap#4 Saponificio Varesino Dolomiti
Wildcard; WD GoldBug 4/8 & Drygulch #43
Wildcard; Alum, Canoe AS



Switched to my fourth Italian soap sample from a PIF by @Marverel . Another triple milled vegetable hard soap described as light citrus lemon, sage, lavender, cloves, black pepper, amber, vetiver, patchouli, and cedar wood. It does lather well in a suribachi bowl or directly on the face using this synthetic brush. Lather was a bit dry at first but another dip in the bowl juiced it right up for decent action. Keeping the sample in an airtight container I hope for even better results next shave. While I prefer a taller straight the little GoldBug gets it done. WTG & XTG with the straight, followed by ATG & clean up with a Schick type J provided a no irritation, error free shave. Rinse/alum/Canoe AS left me well moisturized with no need for any other post care.

 

June Focus Day 20:

VDH Boar Brush
La Cigale SS
W&B Congress Razor
Stirling Unscented PSB
Florida Water AS

I had a very nice shave this morning with the Congress Razor. It really is a smooth shaver. A little observation on my wedges so far: the W&B wedges do seem smoother than my others. This maybe all in my head, but I do seem to get better, more comfortable shaves with them. Either way, it was definitely a good start to my day. I hope everyone has a great day.

 

Tuesday Shave

Brush- RazoRock Tri-Colored
Razor- The Bunny with Wild comb
Blade- Schick (6)
Soap- Mama Bear's Obsession
Post Care- Crystal Alum
Thayers Witch Hazel with grapefruit EO and M-Bomb
Nivea Sensitive balm

Another fantastic shave this morning. I think I'm switching to showering at night and shaving in the morning. Just seems to work out better for my schedule and it's a nice way to wake up. The Bunny again was flawless. My confidence with it is growing, I'm throwing every angle at it I can and it just keeps performing. I tried the Mama Bear's today, easy lathering with nice protection. Not the most slick I have but more than adequate plus it has that great Obsession scent. Definitely keeping it in the rotation. Have a great day folks!

 

SOTD June 21st

Gillette New Short Comb
Rapira Super Stainless (4)
Tabac
RR Plissoft
Alum | WH | Nivea ASB

Another fantastic shave with the Gillette New SC. I love the efficiency and the feel of the blade in this razor. Three passes, one WTG and two opposing diagonal ATG passes and a DFS bordering on BBS. This razor and blade combo has given me perfect irritation free shaves. Love it ! Have a great day my friends!

 

MWF and Stirling Brush Focus
One of our brothers ran out of MWF yesterday and put out a plea for more. Not wanting him to go through withdrawal, I packaged up my puck and put it in today's mail. Because of this emergency shipment, I will unfortunately have to stop my focus. I know I had promised to stick this one out, but felt our brother's health and safety was more important.
I will continue to use the Stirling Finest Badger brush for the rest of the month. Today I bowl lathered some Route 66 Sweeney Todd with the Stirling and I'm still smiling. What a wonderful soap! If any of you need my last puck of Route 66, I'm going to suggest you look elsewhere. I have my generosity limits
Route 66 Sweeney Todd
Stirling Finest Badger
Cooper MonoBilt
Gillette 7 O'clock Green (4)
Alum
Ogallala Bay Rum
Have a great day!

Best lather of the month

 

SOTD June 21, 2016
Injector/SE Focus month 2



Blade: GEM Stainless
Razor: GEM MMOC
Brush: Semogue 1520 boar
Lather: Tabac shave stick
Post: Witch hazel splash, Fine Platinum, Nivea sensitive balm
WTG, XTG (upper face only), touch-up on neck

Decent shave again with the GEM MMOC. I think the blade may be in need of changing. It felt a little less sharp than normal and I needed two passes to get the closeness I can get from one pass at times. The Tabac shave stick provides good lather but it's not as protective for me as some others. I had a little weeper on my chin and didn't get my upper lip or chin areas as close as normal. It just didn't feel slick and protective there. I do like the scent of Tabac but haven't quite gotten the hang of rubbing the stick on my face and then lathering. I need more practice.

The Bunny should arrive tomorrow!! Have a great day!

 

Shave is in the books and will get around to snapping a pic and giving a report at some point today.

For those wondering I changed my picture thanks to SWMBO... while she found the CT hysterical.. the picture of the little girl in a dress followed by a "What dress I prefer CT" may come off weird and she mentioned something about Chris Hansen and the authority's... besides knowing you guys are never going to let me live the CT down it is best to make it a little easier on myself.


Edit: Pic*... not book... don't type before coffee guys......

 

I should have gotten while the getting was good!

 

Don't worry, I had already alerted the world that the dress was for you and nobody else. And what, you can't put a baby blue dress on Mr. Combover?!

 

Alas my photoshop skills only go so far....

 

Jolly Good June!

June 21

Razor - Swan
Blade - (1)
Soap - Proraso
Brush - BoS Omega 10066
Post - Cold rinse, Alum, The Veg

Welcome to the normal First Day of Summer! Yeah, ok, so the Solstice was yesterday as it sometimes is, but today is more the traditional day. And, it's also my anniversary. Five years ago we were out on the lake having our handfasting and around 4:30pm a thunderstorm rolled in. We were out on a point set up in our cabin tent with a smaller tent for her daughter who was with us. Have you ever ridden out a severe thunderstorm with 80 mph winds in a cabin tent? It's an experience you should try at least once. Two motor homes were severely damaged near us.....we were fine and that's how this marriage started. Every year since we've had a major storm on our anniversary and it's cloudy and humid right now. We shall see.

Today is the culmination of a dare by @Drygulch to try the Swan razor. It is listed as a Japanese razor so you might think that the quality would be close to a Feather SS since it's kind of, well sort of, well similar enough to say it's close to the same idea. However, it's a pretty cheaply made zinc razor that looks strange, feels less than safe really, but has to be tried. As I mentioned before, the cap on the razor isn't exactly tight, even with the blade in it. Here are a few pictures to give you the idea of the design.



Here is a view of the cap off.



Notice the spring clip that holds it on. As I said, not exactly NASA level engineering on the fit. The blade, however, fits nice and doesn't seem to have any play.



It might be possible to shim the blade to create a tight fit, but not sure there is enough room without risking breakage of the spring clip or even the blade. As for the gap and angle....this is the best I could muster.



Yes, that is a serious amount of gap, and since the blade bends little if any when loaded it's a bit of a straight edge with sort of a guard within reach at the edge. The handle is knurled a bit near the head but not on the rest of the handle. So I'm thinking a close grip with thumb and fingers to keep it steady.

Soap is Proraso with the BoS to insure a slick and lasting lather. No mistakes on that today.

I found myself feeling like I had a pain stick in my hand. I had thought it might be more of a TSR feel, but not sure why. Pain stick technique all the way with a twist.....you can't grip the slick handle. Using the thumb/finger method on the head end produces blocked views and awkward angle adjustment. Not using the knurling makes it slick and twisty in your hand. I finally adapted my pain stick grip with thumb underneath, fingers on top and tried to use my pinky to control the roll. First couple of strokes were bad. Not bloody bad, just no real reduction, dragging, skipping as I tried to adjust the angle. This is a safety razor head at the end of a stick. Finally got the cap aligned to ride like a normal DE and managed to get a first pass done on the right side and neck.

Switched to the left hand and boy am I weak on that side. My left hand is barely useful on pains and straights. On this thing I might as well have chopped it off and rubbed my face against the blade on the floor. I did finally manage to adjust and keep it in position enough to get a pass done. Went back for XTG and managed to work down a bit more. Did my ATG passes with both hands and had CCS. Calling it good enough for a day off.

With the Voskhod in the razor a CCS would normally be a FAIL! However, with this razor I'll take it. Very squirrelly in my hands, and holding angle with the cap to get the right result is a challenge given the smooth and small diameter handle. The only thing that saved me slicing myself was my experience with the pain sticks. I kept the blade rotated into enough of an angle to avoid any slicing. You learn to do that with totally bare machine sharpened steel on a stick.

This was actually a fun shave. When it was properly aligned it actually did pretty good work! If you could perfect the grip and all you could learn to do some fine shaves with this, I think. When properly aligned it made the Voskhod feel like a Voskhod. When off by a hair....bring on the Rapira because it's the only other razor I know that can make a Voskhod rough.